Moscow: England edged Colombia 4-3 on penalties to halt a run of five successive shootout defeats at major tournaments and book a quarterfinal clash against Sweden at the World Cup here Tuesday night. Regulation ended with both teams locked at 1-1.
Harry Kane fired England ahead with his tournament-leading sixth goal just before the hour in Moscow, converting a penalty after he was hauled down by Carlos Sanchez while trying to head off a corner.
Gareth Southgate’s team looked to be heading into the last eight in regulation time until Yerry Mina equalised with a 93rd-minute header.
Both teams failed to find an advantage in extra-time and so a bad-tempered match went to a nail-biting penalty shootout.
David Ospina dived superbly to his left to repel Jordan Henderson’s third penalty for England and then it looked that the jinx for the Three Lions would continue. However, Manuel Uribe hit the crossbar before Jordan Pickford made a superb save from Carlos Bacca.
Eric Dier drilled home the decisive spot-kick as England won for just the second time in eight penalty shootouts and reached the last eight stage for the first time since 2006.
“To get knocked down at the end like we did with that goal in added on time, you know, it’s difficult to come back from that. But we did,” Dier said. “We knew what we had to do, we stayed calm, we stuck to our plan, we never panicked all the way through extra-time. We knew if it went to the penalties, we were ready for that.”
Colombia were dealt a huge blow before kick-off as James Rodriguez was ruled out of the game. However, with Colombia resorting to some heavy tackles which at times bordered on being rough, England found the going tough.
Midway into the first half, Kane went close when his looping header back across goal landed on the roof of the net. Raheem Sterling then did well to spin past the imposing Davinson Sanchez although his left-footed strike was charged down, while Kieran Trippier curled wide from a free-kick.
Pickford made his first save from a fizzing long-range effort from Juan Fernado Quintero, while Jesse Lingard sliced over after Colombia half-cleared a cross.
Kane made the breakthrough on 57 minutes after he was wrestled to the ground by Carlos Sanchez. The England captain faced a lengthy wait as several Colombia players protested to the referee but he kept his nerve to beat Ospina, lifting his penalty just over the Arsenal goalkeeper’s outstretched leg.
Alli nearly added a second when his diving header at the far post flashed over the bar, with Lingard appealing for another spot-kick after he was caught by Davinson Sanchez.
It appeared Colombia’s hopes were up when Pickford made a terrific save to turn behind Manuel Uribe’s spectacular long-range strike.
But Mina rose powerfully to meet the resulting corner, with Trippier only able to help the ball in via the underside of the crossbar in the third minute of added-on time.